The Art of Being “Fruggle” — Lessons From Grandma and a Lifetime of Memories

Today we’re going to talk about a word I’ve used for years: fruggle.
Not “frugal” — fruggle. There’s a difference. Frugal is clipping a coupon. Fruggle is turning couponing into an Olympic sport.

And the person who defined the term long before I did?
My Grandma.
One of the many beautiful characters in my life who helped shape me into the man tapping away on this keyboard today.

But to understand Grandma’s fruggleness, you have to know she grew up in the Great Depression. Money wasn’t just money — it was survival, security, and something you respected. Yet somehow, she made saving a dollar feel like an adventure.

Coupon Missions With the Queen of Fruggle

My grandma didn’t just clip coupons — she acquired coupons. Hers, yours, your neighbor’s, and probably a few that mysteriously “fell” out of the Sunday paper at the grocery store.

But because some coupons were limited to “5 per person,” that meant I became a second person.
She’d hand me strict grandma-level instructions:

• Product? In the cart.
• Coupons? In my hand.
• Eye contact with cashiers? Minimal.

Then we’d hit a few more stores, running coupon missions like a covert savings team. And after that?
The bread store.

Call it nostalgia or carb-addiction, but the bread store felt like kid-version Dollar General. Bread, donuts, pastries — basically heaven. Grandma loved bread. All kinds. And because of that, my lunches as a kid were… unique.

While other kids got PB&J, my options included:

• pimento cheese sandwiches
• cream cheese on rye
• and anything else that sounded like it belonged in a 1950s Southern cookbook

But that was Grandma — Dallas, Texas accent thicker than molasses (so thick that when I called home during Navy boot camp, she answered, and I panicked and hung up because I didn’t recognize her voice. True story.)

Bank Hopping and Big Rewards

After couponing and carb-loading, we’d go to the bank to “check the interest.” And trust me, you weren’t leaving that bank until the updated balance was stamped in the little book.

If another bank offered a better rate?
We’d transfer the money.
If a bank was giving away free stuff?
We’d go put money there too.

One time they were giving away items for big enough deposits — and grandma didn’t play around. A U-Haul-type truck rolled up to deliver everything she’d earned. And you better believe I benefited:

• A brand-new Apple IIc
• Color monitor
• ImageWriter printer
• Disk drive built into the keyboard
• A stereo that could shake pictures off the walls
• A TV
• A Sony Watchman (made me look very cool in the 80s)

If fruggle was a sport, Grandma was the Babe Ruth of Bargain Baseball.

Only After 6 PM, Young Man

Laundry?
Not until after 6 PM — that’s when power rates were cheaper.

Groceries?
If there wasn’t a coupon, discount, or double-coupon day, she wasn’t interested.

And honestly? I get it now. She was a bookkeeper, married to a pastor back in the days when people loved saying, “Pastors don’t make money.”
(Not to burst her bubble, but Grandpa did just fine.)

The Grandparent Rule: Save Big, BUT Vacation Even Bigger

Here’s where Grandma flipped the script:

Vacation time? Throw the fruggle out the window.

Two trips stand out as core memories:

The Holy Land at 13

This was incredible — history everywhere, stories coming alive around us.
But you know what blew my 13-year-old mind?

Seeing a McDonald’s in Copenhagen, Denmark.
My uncle and I snuck out for it like rebels with a cause.

Washington D.C. Adventure

My grandpa’s book was being translated into Korean, and he was invited to speak at a big church. While he prepared:

• Grandma and I rode the subway
• Ate great food
• Explored museums
• Took a photo with a cutout of Ronald Reagan
• Stayed at the Embassy Suites (complete with made-to-order breakfast and nightly popcorn)

And I’ll never forget counting the money in my wallet — thinking I was rich, then less rich, then rich again. Grandma kept sneaking bills in and out just to mess with me. Being the only grandkid had perks.

Even medical trips to Santa Barbara felt like adventures. I was always the co-pilot, and those drives are still some of my favorite memories.

Why These Stories Matter

It took adulthood to understand the magic behind all of this.

Grandma wasn’t tight with money because she was cheap — she was intentional.
She saved where it didn’t matter…
so she could spend on what did matter.

And what mattered was:

• experiences
• memories
• laughter
• time together

To this day, I live the same way:

Save money where you can.
Add water to the ketchup bottle.
Stretch it when you need to.
But when it comes to people, relationships, moments, vacations, and memories?

Don’t hold back.
Those last forever.

(Just don’t follow my example and add water to your super-hot, handcrafted Bearded Guy hot sauce. I did that once, dumped way too much on my food, and my sinuses took a three-day vacation of their own.)

Being Fruggle Isn’t About Being Cheap — It’s About Being Wise

And Grandma taught me that.
Through coupons, banks, bread stores, weird sandwiches, vacations, and laughter.

I’m grateful I inherited that fruggle spirit — because it shaped the way I love people today.